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Newspaper headlines: Free internet pledge and high street tax cuts
Various campaign pledges by the political parties continue to feature on the front pages. Labour’s proposal to part-nationalise Britain’s broadband network and offer free internet access to every household and business makes the front of the Times. The paper says shadow chancellor John McDonnell will later outline the party’s most radical policy of the election campaign to date, committing £20.3bn to the project.
The i leads on the same announcement and notes that tech companies would “foot the bill” under Labour’s plans. “Other countries are having these visions and we are not”, it quotes Mr McDonnell as saying.
The Daily Express leads on Boris Johnson’s plans for an “ambitious” package of tax cuts aimed at saving Britain’s ailing high streets. The prime minister has vowed to slash business rates for shops and pubs as part of a drive to revitalise struggling town centres, the paper says.
For the Metro, the NHS was “thrust to the centre of the election debate” after figures showed A&E waiting times as being the longest on record. The paper quotes the Society of Acute Medicine’s president as warning the system is “imploding”.
One of those affected by the long waits was “war hero” Brian Fish, who was left in “agony” on an A&E trolley for 10 hours, reports the Daily Mirror. His daughter, Hilary Casement, told the paper Boris Johnson would not have let the same thing happen to his own dad.
Elsewhere, council leaders in northern England have called for “massive” increases in funding following ongoing floods in the region, says the Guardian. As affected areas are braced for further downpours, the leaders of six councils demanded immediate and long-term financial support to help them recover from the disaster.
The Daily Telegraph says Nigel Farage threatened to report the Conservatives to the police after accusing Downing Street of offering Brexit Party candidates jobs and peerages to withdraw from the general election. The Brexit Party leader claimed the Tories were guilty of “corruption of the worst level”, alleging the party had offered eight peerages. No 10 has categorically denied any inducements were offered.
The Daily Mail leads on criticism of Jeremy Corbyn by candidates hoping to become MPs for Labour. The paper describes the remarks, which it says it uncovered on social media and in articles, as a “fresh humiliation” for the Labour leader.
In other news, a lone SAS trooper who killed two gunmen in a hotel siege is to receive a top bravery medal, according to the Sun. The paper says the soldier’s heroics for the Who Dares Wins unit helped save hundreds of live in Nairobi, Kenya.
Google is planning to limit advertisers’ access to personal data following user privacy concerns, says the Financial Times – but the move has been criticised by online ad agencies as self-serving for the company. From February, the US tech group will stop advertisers viewing information that breaks down the content of an app or web pages when they bid for display adverts.
And finally, former EastEnders actor Shaun Williamson says he is being haunted by a ghost called Rosemary, according to the Daily Star. The paper says the actor, best known for playing Barry Evans on the soap, has called in celebrity medium Derek Acorah to sort the problem.
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